AR&D Tech Tip: What to know about rebuilt hybrid batteries

by AR&D On Mar 13, 2014

If you’ve been working on, or even just reading about hybrid vehicles, you’ve almost definitely come across something related to “rebuilt” or “remanufactured” hybrid batteries. If you do a little searching online you’ll quickly find a wide variety of companies selling these batteries all across the country. So what do you need to know to make sure what you’re buying is a good quality product?

Definitely don’t make any assumptions, and absolutely don’t take what you read in the marketing materials, websites, etc. at face value. You need to do your research and get answers to a few questions to ensure the product you are installing in your customer’s car is going to provide the performance and life they are paying for.

So what questions should you ask? Here's a list:

How was the battery pack tested?

The standard in the battery industry is to test for both power and energy.

Does the company, or can the company, provide documentation of the battery test results?

A hybrid battery can be balanced enough to “keep the light off” even with a very low energy capacity.

Without documentation showing the battery capacity and balance (both Power and Energy) you have no idea what you are buying.

What was cleaned, tested, replaced, etc. during the “rebuild” or “remanufacture” process?

Companies are using widely different standards to define these terms so you need to know more about their process to accurately compare products.

What does the warranty include?

Many are offering extremely long warranties (sometimes much longer than even new batteries!)

Keep the importance of knowing the answers to these questions in mind when considering purchasing a used battery as well. By doing your research up front it will help ensure you get a high quality product that will keep both you and your customers happy.